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NetSuite ERP

Case Robit

Robit is an exceptional Finnish success story – The new ERP system helped the company with its rapid international growth

Robit, which manufactures drilling equipment, is an exceptionally international company considering its size. One of the enablers of rapid growth has been its modern ERP system. Solutions developed with Digia help Robit, for example, to serve customers better and automate operations.

 

Robit is an interesting Finnish success story, and the company has grown and expanded to international markets at an exceptional rate over the past years. The company, which originally started its operations in Lempäälä, manufactures drilling equipment that is used, for example, in mines, quarries, construction and well drilling. Robit has almost doubled its turnover in four years and now has approximately 250 employees.

“We are very international considering our size. We are represented in over 100 countries,” says Ilpo-Karri Kontio, who is responsible for information management and process development at Robit. The company also has four production facilities around the world: in Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and Finland. “Our customers range from individuals drilling geothermal heating wells to the largest mines in the world, in which case we are talking about companies of enormous size,” Kontio says.

Robit focuses on consumables for the drilling industry and aims to be the number one drilling supplier in the world. “We offer quality, but we are slightly cheaper than our competitors. We also strive to serve our customers better with our flat organisation,” Kontio says.

Robit's strategy requires effective operations at various levels. The modern ERP system, which has been developed already for many years in cooperation with Digia, plays a key role in this.

What we did

  • ERP

  • reporting

  • integrations

What we used

  • Oracle NetSuite

  • Microsoft Power BI
You cannot often say that an ERP project went really well. However, we have already completed three further development projects with Digia in 2020, and all of them were on schedule and on budget. On our digital journey, Digia is there to help, not only in technical matters but also in the overall planning of the processes.

Ilpo-Karri Kontio, Head of Information Management & Operational Excellence, Robit Oyj

Modern ERP system improves customer service

A few years ago, Robit discovered that its business expansion was held back by an outdated ERP system. It was decided to replace it with a new system that would support growth and internationalisation.

Oracle NetSuite, which is a good solution for international companies, was chosen as the new system. The first Robit units introduced the new system in 2016, and since then its use has been continuously expanded.

According to Kontio, the new ERP system has played an important role in Robit's international growth. For one thing, the system can significantly improve customer service, which is the core of Robit's strategy.

“In consumables business, availability is extremely important. If a customer needs a product that is not available locally, our staff has full visibility into all our warehouses throughout the world,” Kontio says. This means that the delivery options can be viewed immediately, and the products can be delivered to the customer as quickly as possible.

Digia has also piloted for Robit reporting functions that utilise, for example, Microsoft Power BI. Kontio says that real-time reporting plays an important role in the management of an international company. “Reporting tools allow us to monitor more closely how we perform as an organisation,” he says.

Automation and data integrity improve Robit's efficiency

The ERP system enables automation of operations, which in turn improves Robit’s efficiency and competitiveness. “Every time the ERP system is updated, we try to look for opportunities to automate something new,” Kontio says.

For example, methods have been developed with Digia to automatically update product-related data, with the data volume amounting to tens of thousands of items. Kontio says that it would be practically impossible to enter and update data manually to the same extent.

A function for automatic order creation has also been created for Robit, and according to Kontio, it reduces manual work significantly. Similar automation has been implemented in many cases over the years.

Kontio says that data integrity plays an important role in automation, as the process can come to a halt if data is incomplete or incorrect. “We have carried out projects aimed at increasing the transparency and accessibility of data. For example, Digia has created tools that can be used to easily update master data and ensure its correctness,” Kontio says.

Robit's ERP system has also been integrated with other systems. “When data is retrieved from or imported to the ERP system, Digia is an expert in that,” Kontio acclaims.

Cloud eliminates traditional challenges

For Robit, one of the key benefits of the new ERP system is that the system is completely cloud-based. “Our operations are extremely global, and it is easy to arrange secure access to a cloud-based system from anywhere. If we had the system on our own equipment, arranging secure access would be difficult,” Kontio says.

A cloud-based system also eliminates many of the challenges related to traditional ERP systems. Updates can no longer be left undone, which is a situation that could lead to a large and heavy upgrade project. In the cloud, the system is always kept up to date.

According to Kontio, the projects carried out with Digia have also otherwise been different compared with past ERP system projects.

“You cannot often say that an ERP project went really well. However, we have already completed three further development projects with Digia this year, and all of them are on schedule and on budget,” Kontio says.

Therefore, Robit will continue to develop its ERP system with Digia and thus aims to further increase the effectiveness of the company's international growth. One of the key areas for further development is the development of production. “I believe that in production and logistics, Digia is the best company in Finland when it comes to this system,” Kontio says.

“On our digital journey, Digia is there to help, not only in technical matters but also in the overall planning of the processes,” Kontio says.

“Digia has been a good system development partner for us. They have understood our needs and been able to deliver the solutions we need. Both parties have had a good understanding of the work at hand, and the cooperation has worked really well,” Kontio says.